It was so difficult
by Tendencies' Wrath
Summary: Lies over lies over lies over glares and threatening auras. It was the fourth month now and Erza's conviction was waning. How much longer could she keep the lies up? How much more before someone connects the dots? Time would tell, or better yet, Cana and Lisanna were going to tell since they were on the case. NatZa, of course. Random point in time.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**I do own the idea for the fic though.**

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**It was so difficult.**

_(A TW original fan-fiction story.)_

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Walking her way to the place where everyone else was, Erza took a moment to rest against a tree.

It was the fourth month now and, even with all the countermeasures she thought of to mislead their friends at the guild, it was getting harder and harder to hide her current condition as easily as it was when it all begun.

The new look she had? A different armor with a wider frontal protection arrived as soon as she asked for it. The reason she gave to her friends was that it was the newest and better armor Heart-Kreuz made that year. The real reason was to hide her ever growing belly and the baby inside her.

Believable.

Her staying in Natsu's place and lack of payment of her apartment's bill in Fairy Hills due to her inactivity? She couldn't do missions at the moment since _she was feeling something weird with her magic_, and Natsu was _kind_ enough to let her stay in his place while she recovers.

Natsu was the kind of guy to do such thing, so it was believable as well.

Why is he doing more missions than usual? He had three mouths to feed at the time; his, hers and Happy's. Though the cat was staying at Lucy's lately, so the reason was… believable, to an extent.

The different air around her? How could she answer that? She just told them they were imagining things, and if more questions were asked, she would scare them away with one of her famous glares. She was avoiding the issue, yeah, but it would work until the sixth month comes.

Erza sighed as she eyed the leaves of the tree standing close to her boyfriend's, and father of her children's, house.

Things had been hard for them in the past months, only because she insisted on keeping it a secret.

Why? She wasn't sure, completely, if it was to break it slowly to their friends or if she was just afraid of their reaction. All in all, she just felt it wasn't the right moment yet and her boyfriend respected her decision.

Natsu. He would always comply to her every demand and was willing to ensure her wellbeing and that of their baby whatever the means and costs. Which was the reason why he was taking more missions lately, either alone or with someone from the guild, he wanted to ensure the little guy or girl had a good place to live once he/she was born.

Remembering that alone was heart-warming for the woman that was the carrier of the new life, and made her strengthen her resolve in hiding the news from the rest of the guild until she sorted through her insecurities and thoughts.

She should not doubt them, but, doubts were always present, especially so when considering it was their life-long friends the ones out of the issue. The same ones that not even once thought she and the Dragon Slayer would end up together, or let alone having a kid. Yeah, in the best case scenario, the obvious one, they would surely be supportive and even give a hand so they don't have to do much. But, in the worst case…

She shook her head of such thoughts.

Anyway, she wanted to wait a little longer, and Natsu respected that.

'It's getting late,' she thought after getting her bearings and thoughts together, taking a deep breath before marching her way towards the guild, her steps being cautious on their advance just in case there was something on the road that could make her trip. 'They'll suspect something if I'm not there by the time I usually arrive.'

A few minutes later and she was at the building, eyeing the structure from outside, taking a good look at every detail of the place before walking her way inside, greeting those wizards and people that were sitting on the tables outside.

"Hey, Erza," she got near the counter and found Cana chatting with Lisanna, the second one manning the bar while her sister and brother were off on a mission. The white-haired noticed the new armor and quirked an eyebrow, still not buying the story told to them by the woman wearing it. "Are you sure you're good with that suit? Isn't it too… loose?"

"Lisanna," Scarlet nodded at the two and took a seat a few places away from the Card wizard, doing her best to sit as normally as she could. It was hard to do even the most normal of actions with a belly, and a baby, constricting your movements. "No, I'm fine with it. I told you it's the newest armor and, as such, the best."

"Uhm, if you say so." The girl nodded awkwardly, not entirely accepting the usual story, and went to the back of the bar to retrieve a cake for the woman from the kitchen.

Cana took the moment to ask a few more questions, since she was also curious of the new air and look the Titania had since a few months ago. "I remember you told us you liked tighter armors, Erza," she pointed out assertively to the red-head, her eyes on the look-out for any kind of sign that could tell her the woman was hiding something. More like confirm it. "It's strange to see you in something that's not outlining your figure."

"Tastes change, Cana," Erza answered expertly without a single flinch in her facade, she rehearsed her words for hours. "I like this better, at the moment."

"Hah!" the brunette snorted, taking a large gulp from her barrel before cleaning her mouth with her forearm and grinning to the red-head. "You make it sound as if the next thing we'll hear is you being interested in Natsu…"

At that, Erza froze for a second.

She didn't think that kind of comment could ever arise in conversation.

Luckily enough, before she could run her mouth and blow away her cover, Lisanna arrived with her cake and placed it neatly in front of her, moving back to clean some dishes and mugs left from some members that finished their meals.

"A-ah, stop spouting non-sense and let me enjoy my cake." The Knight ordered with her eyes closing in concentration and her hand moving bits and pieces of the sweet dessert to her mouth. She played it well, better than expected in fact. Was the whole pregnancy thing making her improve her once lacking acting skills?

The answer was simple: no.

While she thought she answered Cana's comment with her usual stern voice, and she did, the rest of her body reacted differently. The girls around her took notice of it; the terrible trembling she had when raising her hand to eat the chips of cake was a huge giveaway, and how she wolfed it down in less than a minute, when she usually took her time to enjoy it, was also another sign.

And the catalyst for this bizarre show was the sole mention of her being interested in the pink-haired boy that was working his ass off right now since a few months.

Something was up with her…

…the strange air…

…the new armor…

…her lack of activity…

…her reason for staying with Natsu and leaving Fairy Hills; they were worried sick for her and being left out of the issue by the woman herself with smalls "I'm okay" and "don't worry" comments wasn't helping them to calm down at all.

The changes in and around her were all small pieces of a puzzle that weren't pointing at anything that could give them a clear answer. That was the case for Lisanna at least; she was sure her sister would have jumped to conclusions in less than a second's passing, but not her. There were many things to consider with Erza, and Natsu could just be a helper in the matter, either by force or willingly. He was a guy with a golden heart, through and through.

So, if Erza was having problems, he would move head-on to help her in any way he could.

That was Natsu for you.

But then, so much change in his persona for that sole reason?

He stopped brawling at every given chance and was constantly looking for easy jobs with big rewards that didn't take him too far from town. He spent his time in the guild either by sitting with Erza in companionable silence or by talking with Macao, Wakaba and Alzack.

The guys said his questions were weird but that none of them had a clue as to why the pink-haired was voicing them, he was just curious for all that they could gather. Of course, Lisanna noticed they were lying for him, but she decided not to pressure the issue. Guys were guys and they defended their own, after all.

'So, he must be covering Erza's strange behavior by letting her stay at his place and taking care of her because… because…' Her mind connected the dots and in less than a second, she had a possible answer. 'It can't be _that_, right?'

Damn, the girl was good.

Her blue eyes left Erza's still trembling state to meet the eyes of her assistant – erhm, I mean Cana.

Both women reached the same conclusion.

'We must wait for him to return.'

For now, all that was left was to wait for Natsu to confirm their suspicions.

They just needed to be patient for a few more days.

**The end.**

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**AN: Oh-ho! Just one chapter before the truth is revealed! Or discovered! Or whatever!**

**If my thoughts are correct, the "It was so..." series will end at the fifteenth chapter... erm, story, yeah, story. So that means there are eleven more before the end. Aye, that's correct. Let's hope my imagination allows me to reach that amount, heh, let's hope my imagination doesn't block or leave us hanging halfway through... as a good friend once said: "beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep".**

**I'm sorry, the story is rated as T, so no heavy sexual words can appear here. Though, Dante did make a pretty good analogy back then. *smirks***

**Saludos.**


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